cruise in July- am I too late?

[Mumster786]

We were considering a 2 centre break to Ibiza and Barcelona with our 7 and 9 year old as we enjoyed Ibiza so much last year, this Summer 2015. Both children enjoy a bit of culture but they also enjoy swimming and kids clubs, and then I had a brainwave (/silly idea?!) Why not book a Med cruise? Looking at going late July for 7 days. I see loads of ideas and websites and travel agents as well as the facility to book online and I am suffering from information overload!

Some of the cruises include Croatia (Dubrovnik) and I like the idea of going to Pisa and Florence (although this seems to be for a day only) and Rome. (not keen on Turkey as we went on a roadtrip fairly recently incl Kusadasi and Bodrum) Sicily sounds interesting.

So, you well travelled Cruise addicts, please give me advice before I tear my hair out! (hubbie wants to go to Caribbean but looking at what else is going in the diary, I don't think we have long enough and it looks expensive. Maybe its worth saving up for Caribbean for next year/ year after once we have tried a shorter cruise?) Anyway here are my questions -

1. Is it worth booking interconnecting or do they have cabins to share?

2. I read somewhere that there are often offers for kids going free - which company offers these?

3. Which cruise did you go on and was it worth the money?

4. How much do extras cost - excursions, drinks etc - I really need to work out a budget.

5. We generally like hanging out with our kids on holiday and sometimes it's nice to do a meal without them for example/ catch a movie. Are some ships better than others?

6. Do I book direct / with travel agent? I think once I have actually narrowed it down to the cruise we want to go on, then I am guessing I just ring around/ shop online for quotes.

7. should I book a room outside rather than inside ship - are the balcony rooms worth it?

Really appreciate any advice.

Ps - If you want to know about Ibiza pls let me know, be happy to tell you what I found out last year from some well travelled mums at daughter's school.

oh and one more question - is it cheaper to book flights myself or go with the cruise fly option?

We've only ever gone direct from Southampton, not flown. I think I sm right in saying thst if you fly you need to be aware that unless you book through the cruise line there will be no allowance for flight delays, best to fly in the day before you board to be on the safe side. We've only been with Royal Caribbean who are excellent with DCs that age.

I wouldn't spend the extra on an outside cabin personally, we hardly spend any time in the cabins.

Excursions - the ship ones are easy but expensive. If you DIY you can save a lot, but it's important to research your ports, if you want to get the most out of them. For example Rome is about 90 mins drive from the port. You can just get off and wander though, we did that in a few places last year, but still need a bit of advance research.

thanks WhoKnowsWhereTheChocolateGoes (after eating my ds' Rolos!). Really helpful already. Which boat did you pick with Royal Caribbean? Did you get interconnecting rooms/ one room with extra beds?
How was the sailing from Southampton? How long did it take to get to your first port overseas?

Cabins have bunks that pull down from the ceiling for LOs, rather than connecting rooms.

Time between ports depends on where you're going. Some days you're at sea for the whole day.

Most ships have kids clubs with evening sessions if you want a meal with your DH / OP or see a show without the children.

Look on websites for drinks packages & drinks prices to get an idea of budget.

We've been on Adventure of the Seas and Independence of the Seas. We only had a three week window each time so very little choice but both were great. We had interconnecting rooms but shared would almost certainly be cheaper. We liked having more space and two bathrooms though. Cruise 1 the first stop was Gibraltar on I think Day 4, Cruise 2 first stop was Vigo in Northern Spain on Day 3 (Day 1 is boarding day). We live near Southampton so it really is an easy holiday for us, we were home 2 hours after getting up on the last day last time. We booked direct both times, there are usually offers of some description on.

We used the kids clubs a lot, our DCs loved them, both daytime and evening. You can even leave DCs in them while you go ashore, we did that last time. Our DCs were 7 and 9 first time and 8 and 10 second time.

We have booked our first cruise for this summer. We ended up booking a balcony room as we have several days at sea. If it had been a port a day we would probably just have gone for an outside room. A balcony can be handy though if you want to sit out when the children are asleep. I am not sure I would want to do an inside room but if you are only planning to use it for sleeping you would be fine. You may find it easier to get a room for all four of you rather than connecting rooms at this late stage.

Once we worked out which cruise we wanted to do then we priced it up directly with the cruise line and then with several travel agents. We ended up booking through cruise deals who gave us a good price,

We haven't booked any excursions directly with the cruise line as they are often more expensive. The only plus to going on one of their excursions is that if you are late back then the future ship will wait for you. We have arranged private tours through our roll call on cruise critic. You can also get an idea of how much extras will be. There is a forum for each cruise line where people ask questions about costs etc.

Some ports you can do DIY others you will need to research the best way to get to the city as it can take some time. It depends what you want to do at each port.

You may well be able to get a good deal now as it is not long until you want to cruise. There seems to be more availability for cruises in Europe this summer as less Americans are coming over due to the cost of the cruises and the air fares.

Good luck with the search

Yes, a balcony might be useful if your DCs go to bed earlier than you, ours stay up as late as us on holidays so that wasn't a problem. Also yes to the Cruise Critic forums, all sorts of useful info on there.

Sushi queen and whoknows where the chocolate... Thank-you for all the tips. Better go to cruise critic then!!